Door monitoring system and method

ABSTRACT

A door monitoring system may include an optical sensor that may generate sensor signals indicative of a field of view of the optical sensor. The field of view may include at least part of an interior vehicle floor in front of a vehicle door. The system also may include controller that receives the sensor signals and that detects a presence or absence of one or more persons and/or objects within the field of view of the optical sensor. The controller may change a speed at which the vehicle door moves based on the presence or the absence of the persons and/or objects that are detected responsive to detecting the presence or absence of the persons and/or objects.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Indian Patent Application No.202211011920 (filed 04-March-2022), the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The subject matter described herein relates to systems and methods forcontrolling operation of vehicle doors.

State of Art

Many modern passenger vehicles and buildings have automated sliding orhinged doors for passengers to load and unload from the vehicle.

Automated doors may be operated by user initiated remote control, by aproximal user entry device (such as a keypad or card reader), or by asystem that senses the presence or absence of a person or object (e.g.,something other than a person) moving toward the door. Doors movingbetween an open and closed position have a path that must remainobstruction free for the door to function properly and to prevent damageto the door, the door frame, or any object or person in the path of thedoors.

In an attempt to reduce likelihood of damage from contact between amoving vehicle door and an object, the United States federal governmentmandated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 118. (Other jurisdictionsmay have similar standards.) This standard calls for implementation ofso-called anti-pinch devices that sense contact when an object isbetween a closing vehicle door and the associated vehicle door frame.Some anti-pinch devices are contact devices that require physicalcontact with an object and the vehicle door and/or door frame, whereasother anti-pinch devices are contactless, and do not require suchcontact.

Contact type anti-pinch devices try to mitigate damage after initialcontact between an object and the vehicle door and/or door frame occurs.As soon as contact is detected, a control signal is generated causingthe motor moving the door to halt or to reverse direction. Some contactsensors dispose a tube or trim within the relevant vehicle door frameregion, and then sense at least one contact-caused parameter such aspressure, capacitance change, optical change, electrical currentincrease in the door drive motor, etc. The tube or trim may containspaced-apart electrical wires that make contact only if an objectdepresses the tube or trim. In practice, such sensors are sometimesdifficult to install, and can exhibit varying contact responses,especially as ambient temperature changes. But even if the best contacttype anti-pinch device can only begin to function after some physicalcontact with an object has first occurred. Thus, a corrective commandsignal is not issued until initial contact occurs. In some instances,corrective action may come too late. For example, upon detecting contactthere may be insufficient time to fully halt the closing action of asliding door on a vehicle parked on a steep downhill incline. An object,which may be a person’s hand, could be severely damaged before theclosing inertia of the sliding door can be halted.

What is needed in the art is an improved system and method for detectingobstructions in the path of automatic doors and preventing contactbetween the door and the obstruction.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a system (e.g., a monitoring system, such as avehicle monitoring system or a door monitoring system) includes anoptical sensor that may generate sensor signals indicative of a field ofview of the optical sensor. The field of view may include at least partof an interior vehicle floor in front of a vehicle door. The system alsomay include controller that receives the sensor signals and that detectsa presence or absence of one or more persons and/or objects within thefield of view of the optical sensor. The controller may change a speedat which the vehicle door moves based on the presence or the absence ofthe persons and/or objects that are detected responsive to detecting thepresence or absence of the persons and/or objects.

In another example, a method is provided that may include generatingsensor signals indicative of a sensed presence or absence of one or morepersons or objects within a field of view of an optical sensor. Thefield of view may include at least part of an interior vehicle floor infront of a vehicle door. The method also may include detecting thepresence or absence of the one or more persons or objects within thefield of view based on the sensor signals, and changing a speed at whichthe vehicle door moves responsive to detecting the presence or theabsence of the one or more persons or objects.

In another example, a monitoring system may include an optical sensorthat may generate sensor signals of a sensed field of view of theoptical sensor. The system also may include a controller that receivesthe sensor signals from the optical sensor and one or more of (a)prevents a vehicle door from automatically opening or speed up closingof the vehicle door based on detecting an absence of one or more personsor objects within the field of view and/or (b) prevents the vehicle doorfrom automatically opening based on detecting the presence of the one ormore persons or objects abutting the vehicle door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter may be understood from reading the followingdescription of non-limiting embodiments, with reference to the attacheddrawings, wherein below:

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a door monitoring system and a hingeddoor that is monitored by the system;

FIG. 2 illustrates another example of the door monitoring system and thehinged door shown in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 illustrates one example of the door monitoring system and asliding door that is monitored by the system;

FIG. 4 illustrates another example of the door monitoring system and thesliding door shown in FIG. 3 ; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of one example of a method forcontrolling operation of a door based on a monitored area near the door.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter described herein relates to monitoring systems andmethods that detect and optionally count passengers or persons, andother objects in a door portal of a vehicle, building, or the like.While one or more embodiments are described herein in connection withpassengers boarding and leaving a vehicle through the door portal, notall embodiments are limited to vehicles and passengers. One or moreembodiments may be used in connection with doors of buildings.References to passengers is not intended to limit all embodiments tovehicles. Unless explicitly disclaimed or stated otherwise, a passengermay include a person entering or exiting a building through a doorportal.

The system can include sensors having monitoring ranges or areas thatinclude the entire doorway area (instead of just a portion of the areadirectly in front of the door), as well as a trailing edge area andexterior of the door (e.g., outside of the vehicle or building). Thesystem can examine the sensor output to distinguish between passengersstanding close to the door, passengers approaching the door, andpassengers that are in the doorway portal (while the doors are open).Based on the sensor output, the system can implement one or moreresponsive actions, such as slowing movement of the door (e.g., slow theopening movement of the door and/or slow the closing movement of thedoor) and/or changing the direction of movement of the door (e.g.,reverse the current opening movement of the door to closing movement orreverse the current closing movement of the door to opening movement ofthe door). The movement of the door can be controlled based on ameasured, estimated, or sensed distance between the passenger and thedoor. For example, the speed at which the door closes can be slowed bygreater amounts for passengers that are closer to the door than forpassengers that are farther from the door. As another example, the speedat which the door opens can be increased for closer passengers than forfarther passengers.

The sensor(s) can be optical sensors that output data such as images orvideo that are used to detect the presence (or absence) of persons orobjects. The sensor(s) may not include any contact sensors that requirephysical touch to detect a person or object, and may not include sensorsthat do not output images or video. For example, the sensor(s) may notinclude infrared, LiDAR, sonar, or other types of sensors that maydetect persons or objects based on time of flight, interruption of alight path, etc. Instead, the sensor(s) may include cameras or the like.

The monitoring system optionally can count the number of passengersand/or objects passing through the door portal. This information can beused by the monitoring system or another system to determine how manypassengers and/or objects are onboard the vehicle or inside thebuilding, and/or how many passengers and/or objects have left thevehicle and/or building. This information can be used for a variety ofpurposes, including tracking passenger traffic in vehicles such astransit vehicles, counting the number of persons in a building in theevent that a headcount is needed (e.g., to determine whether any personsare missing following a disaster or other emergency event, such as atornado), or the like.

The monitoring system can include optical sensors, such as cameras, thatcan provide output used for security purposes. The output from theoptical sensors can be stored responsive to a trigger event beingdetected, but otherwise discarded. For example, responsive to detectingthe door contacting a person or object while closing, the monitoringsystem can save the optical sensor output from prior to this event toshortly after the event. As another example, the output from the opticalsensor may be stored responsive to a fare collection device determiningthat a passenger has paid a fare (or passed through a gate of the farecollection device) without paying the fare. In another example, theoutput from the optical sensor can be stored responsive to a ramp orbridge plate of the vehicle being extended or retracted. The storedoutput from before the event, during the event, and/or after the eventcan be used for security, for liability investigations in case of anaccident, or the like.

The monitoring system can include the sensors located above the doorportal, and optionally mounted to other door components. The sensors cansense possible impedances to door movement. These impedances may includepassengers, items carried by passengers, items propelled by passengers(e.g., carts, bikes, strollers, etc.), or items left in the path of thedoor travel. The monitoring system may detect the presence of theseitems in a vehicle doorway so that operation of the door may bemodulated by the presence or absence of those items. For example, if apassenger is present such that a closing door will contact thepassenger, that closing may be prevented or reversed to avoid thatcontact. The monitoring system may detect and respond without impartingcontact on an obstruction.

The detection volume of the sensors can be based on the door size andgeometry. This volume may include some of the area on one or both sidesof the door (e.g., the passenger standing areas). As one example, thedetection volume may range from up to twenty-one inches inside the dooropening plane to twenty-one inches outside the door opening plane.Alternatively, the detection volume may be larger or smaller than thesedimensions. The sensor of the monitoring system may be able to detect atarget in the detection volume (which may be up to fifty-six inches byninety-seven inches by thirty inches as one example, but alternativelymay be a larger or smaller volume).

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one example of a door monitoring system 100 anda hinged door 102 that is monitored by the system. FIGS. 3 and 4illustrate another example of the system used in connection with asliding door 302. The doors may open or close to permit or preventpassage of persons and/or objects through a door portal 20. The doorsmay automatically open and close (e.g., under control of one or moreactuators 104, such as one or more motors). The doors are disposed in adoor frame 25 and may include a pair of hinged doors (FIGS. 1 and 2 ) orsliding doors (FIGS. 3 and 4 ). FIGS. 1 and 3 show the doors in a closedstate or position, while FIGS. 2 and 3 show the doors in an open stateor position. Optionally, there may be a single door instead of multipledoors, the door or doors may be accordion doors (having multiple paneswith hinges between the panes), or the like. The doors depicted in theFigures are provided merely as one example, and are not limiting on allembodiments of the inventive subject matter described herein.

Each door can include a leading edge 70 and a trailing edge 80, and thesystem can identify and track movement of the leading edge and/or andtrailing edge of the doors during opening and/or closing the doors. Thesystem can stop movement of the door responsive to determining that theleading edge or the trailing edge of the vehicle door will contact theone or more persons or objects if the door continues to move. Forexample, the system can include at least one sensor 10 that sensespassengers, objects, and the like, within a monitoring area or range 40of the sensor. Optionally, the sensor may monitor another part of thedoor. For example, the sensor may monitor movement of a panel of thedoor, a marker on the door (e.g., a piece of reflective tape, a paintedor printed marker, etc.), or the like, to track movement of the door andprevent the door from striking a person or object.

The sensor can be a camera, as one example. The sensor may be disposedat the top of the door frame or otherwise above the door. Alternatively,the sensor may be disposed elsewhere, such as to one side of the door orin another location. The monitoring area or range may extend down to afloor 30 of the space inside of and/or outside of the doors. The systemcan include multiple ones of the sensor (or multiple different sensors)that can be redundantly employed such that one sensor can begin workingupon the failure of one or more other sensors.

In one embodiment, the monitoring area can be defined by the size of thedoor and/or the geometry (e.g., shape) of the door. There can bemultiple sensors, with each sensor disposed on a different side of thedoor frame. Each of these sensors can have a monitoring area on adifferent side of the door and door frame. Alternatively, a sensor maybe oriented such that the monitoring area of the sensor can extendthrough the door portal and encompass both sides of the door whenopened. The sensor or sensors may be disposed in any different positionor positions that have field(s) of view of the door(s), around thedoor(s), outside of the door(s), inside the door(s), or the like. Forexample, the sensor(s) may be disposed above a door, across a door(e.g., on the opposite side of a door in the vehicle), on a side of thedoor, below a door, outside of a door, etc.

The monitoring area can extend from up to twenty-one inches inside thedoor opening plane to twenty-one inches outside the door opening plane.Alternatively, the monitoring area may be larger or smaller. Thesensor(s) can be oriented and positioned to detect obstructions,persons, and/or other objects in a large space, such as a space up tofifty-six inches (extending in a direction away from the door portal),by ninety-seven inches (up from the floor), by thirty inches wide(extending in a lateral direction), or another size.

The sensor may sense possible impedances to door movement. These mayinclude passengers, items carried by passengers, items propelled bypassengers (carts, bikes, or strollers, etc.), or items left in the pathof the door travel. The sensor can detect the presence of these items inthe doorway or door portal so that operation (e.g., movement) of thedoor may be controlled based on the presence or absence of those items.For example, the system can include a controller 50 that controlsoperation of one or more actuators or motors that move the door betweenopen and closed states. The controller can represent hardware circuitrythat includes and/or is connected with one or more processors (e.g.,integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, integratedcircuits, etc.) that operate as described herein in connection with thecontroller. The controller can receive output from the sensor todetermine whether to open or close, or stop opening or closing, of thedoor. For example, if the output from the sensor indicates that apassenger or object is present such that a closing door will contact thepassenger or object, then the controller can direct the actuator(s) tostop closing of the door and/or to reverse movement of the door.

The sensor and/or controller can differentiate between persistentobjects 60 and intermittent objects or persons. A persistent object canbe an object that remains present or stationary, and may be within themonitored area of the sensor and system. An intermittent object can bean object or person that does not remain present or stationary, andinstead moves relative to the door such that the intermittent object isnot always present within the monitored area or field of view of thesensor(s). Examples of persistent objects include handrails, modestyguards, support elements, or the like. The controller can be programmedor learn (e.g., using artificial intelligence or machine learning)differences between persistent and intermittent objects. The controllercan categorize different types of objects detected by the sensor(s) tolearn different types of obstructions based on the environment of thesystem and the event to which the system is exposed. For example, overtime, the controller can learn (or be programmed) to distinguish betweenan irrelevant obstruction such as papers, leaves, precipitation outsideof the door, etc., and a relevant obstruction such as a person,stroller, or the like. The controller may not change or stop movement ofthe door responsive to detecting an irrelevant obstruction, but may stopor change the direction of movement of the door responsive to detectinga relevant obstruction.

The controller optionally can be programmed or learn to identify apassenger gesture to change a state or direction of movement of thedoor. For example, the sensor can detect, and the controller caninterpret detection (by the sensor) of a waving hand, a raised hand, orother predefined or designated movement by a person as an indication tochange movement of the door. This change in movement can be opening thedoor, closing the door, stopping current movement of the door, orslowing current movement of the door. The controller can direct theactuator(s) to change the movement of the door or authorize movement ofthe door, as indicated by the gesture. This can reduce the instances inwhich passengers are required to touch surfaces in or around the door.

The controller can change the monitored area by modifying one or morecharacteristics of the sensors, such as a focal length, orientation,etc. Optionally, the controller can receive data output from thesensor(s) for the larger monitored area but examine a smaller portion orfraction of the monitored area. As one example, the controller canexamine a smaller portion of the monitored area that includes or is infront of a designated area. This designated area can include a button,sign, or the like, where movement of a person, the presence of a hand ofthe person, or the like, is detected by the controller. Responsive todetecting the person in the smaller portion of the monitored area, thecontroller can control the actuators to open the door.

For example, the controller can examine the sensor data representativeof movement or the presence of a person/object within a small, narrowrectangle zone located along the inside of the doors. Detection of aperson in this zone may indicate a request to open the door. If thecontroller determines that the door is already closed (e.g., bymonitoring the sensor output) and that the door is authorized to beopened (e.g., based on whether the vehicle is moving and/or operatorinput), then the controller can automatically control the actuator(s) toopen the door.

The controller can examine the sensor output and determine whether toprevent or authorize movement of the door. The preceding example relatesto controlling a movement of the door based on a gesture, the controlleroptionally can permit or prevent the door from being opened (bycontrolling the actuator(s) and/or lock(s)) based on detection of aperson or object within the monitored area or range of the sensor(s). Ifthe controller determines that a person is within the monitored area,the controller may control the actuator(s) to allow the door to beopened. For example, the controller may direct the motors to no longerprevent the door from being opened to allow a person to manually openthe door. If no person is detected within the monitored area, thecontroller may control the actuator(s) to prevent the door from beingopened.

In one embodiment, the controller may direct the actuator to open,close, permit opening, or prevent opening of the door responsive to aperson being detected by the sensor(s), the date, and/or the time ofday. The controller may base the decision on whether to open, close,permit opening, or prevent opening of the door based on time due tocertain periods of time being associated with increased likelihoods ofpersons being intoxicated or sleeping near the door. For example, if thecontroller detects a person near the door (within the monitored area),the day is on a weekend (or another date, such as a holiday, associatedwith increased consumption of intoxicants), and/or the time is late atnight or early in the morning, the controller may prevent the door fromopening. This can prevent a person that is intoxicated or sleeping nearthe door from falling out of the vehicle (while the vehicle is moving orstationary) if the door were to open.

The controller can change or control a speed at which the door movesbased on the sensor(s) detecting the presence or absence of a person. Ifthe controller determines that a person is within the monitored area,the controller may slow down or restrict the speed at which the doormoves in a closing direction (to close the door) or speed up or allowfaster speeds at which the door moves in an opening direction (to openthe door). Conversely, if the controller determines that a person is notwithin the monitored area, the controller may close the door at fasterspeeds (relative to when a person is detected) or open the door atslower speeds (relative to when a person is detected). This can helpreduce the likelihood of a person being struck by the closing door orcolliding with a slower moving door that is opening.

The controller optionally can change or control a speed at which thedoor moves based on the sensor(s) detecting movement of a person. If thecontroller determines that a person is moving toward the door that isopen but closing, the controller may slow down the speed at which thedoor was moving (e.g., until the person moves through the door portaland is clear of the door). If the controller determines that a person ismoving toward the door that is opening (but not fully open), thecontroller may increase the speed at which the door was moving (e.g., toensure the door is open when the person reaches the door).

The controller can determine whether an object is resting, abutting, orotherwise contacting the door based on the sensor output. The controllercan then prevent the door from being opened until the object is nolonger leaning against or abutting the door. This can prevent the objectfrom falling out of the door if the door were to be opened.

Changes in lighting conditions (e.g., the ambient light) within themonitored area can negatively impact the ability of the sensor(s) todetect objects or persons in the monitored area and/or the ability ofthe controller to identify the objects or persons in the sensor output.For example, very low or dim light may make the objects, persons,gestures, etc. difficult to detect or identify. The system can includeone or more lamps 106 that are controlled by the controller to generatelight. The lamps can represent incandescent lights, light emittingdiodes, or other devices that generate light. The lamps can be disposedabove the door, to the side of the door, on or in the door, on or in thefloor, etc. The controller can direct the lamps to activate and generatelight responsive to the controller being unable to detect persons orobjects in the sensor output and/or the sensor(s) being unable to detectone or more persons or objects within a threshold period of time. Forexample, if there normally are persons and/or objects within themonitored area but none have been detected for an extended period oftime, the controller may determine that there is insufficient light andactivate the lamp(s).

Optionally, the lamp(s) can generate light or change the color of thelight that is generated to notify passengers of a state of the door. Forexample, the controller can direct the lamp(s) to generate a green lightto indicate that the door is unlocked, permitted to be opened, or isopen. The controller can direct the lamp(s) to generate a yellow lightto indicate that the door is opening or permitted to be opened (but notyet open). The controller can direct the lamp(s) to generate a red lightto indicate that the door is closed, locked, or otherwise not permittedto be opened.

The controller may communicate with an output device 108 to communicateinformation with an operator of the vehicle, security of a building, orthe like. For example, the controller can send a warning or notificationvia a flashing light, alphanumeric message, audible alarm, or the like,to a driver of the vehicle. The warning or notification can be sentresponsive to detecting the presence of a person or object outside ofthe door. As described above, the monitored area or field of view of thesensor(s) may extend outside of the door (e.g., outside of the vehicleor building). The controller can send a warning to the operator of thevehicle responsive to detecting the presence of a person outside of thedoor. Optionally, the output device shown in the Figures can represent avehicle control unit that controls operation of the vehicle. The vehiclecontrol unit can represent hardware circuitry that includes and/or isconnected with one or more processors that can control operation of thevehicle. The controller can send a signal to the vehicle control unit toprevent the vehicle from moving responsive to detecting the presence ofa person outside of the door. This can prevent the vehicle from movingand potentially striking the person that is nearby, but outside of, thevehicle. Optionally, instead of preventing movement of the vehicle, thecontrol unit can restrict the speed and/or direction in which thevehicle moves responsive to detecting a presence of a person outside thedoor.

The vehicle may include a deployable passenger device 110 that can becontrolled by the same or different actuators that control movement ofthe door. The deployable passenger device can represent a ramp, bridgeplate, stairs, lift, or a platform that can extend from the vehicle inone state and retract back into or toward the vehicle in another state.In the extended state, the passenger device can provide a surface forpassengers to walk on while exiting or entering the vehicle through thedoor. The passenger device may need to retract to avoid colliding withpersons or objects while the vehicle is moving. In one embodiment, thecontroller can direct the actuators to retract the passenger deviceresponsive to the sensor output indicating that a person is outside ofthe door. This can prevent persons from being struck by the passengerdevice or trapped between the passenger device and a platform or othersurface outside of the vehicle.

Optionally, the controller can examine the sensor data to determinewhether there is a person or object on the passenger device. Thecontroller may not move the passenger device if a person or object isdetected on the passenger device. For example, if a person or object isdetected on a deployed ramp, plate, or stairs, the controller canprevent the actuator(s) from retracting the ramp, plate, or stairs toprevent a person or object from falling off the ramp, plate, or stairs.

The controller can track how many people and/or objects are onboard thevehicle or inside the building via the door based on the sensor output.The controller can monitor the sensor output to count the number ofpersons entering into the vehicle or building, and/or exiting thevehicle or building via the door portal. This information can be used todetermine how many people are onboard the vehicle or in the buildingover time (or at different times). This information can be used tocalculate whether additional vehicles need to be scheduled to travelalong certain routes (due to overcrowding on the vehicle), whether anypersons remain in a building (e.g., after an emergency event where ahead count is needed, etc.). In one example, the controller may onlycount the number of passengers and/or objects entering and/or exitingthe vehicle (or building) while the door is open. This can help preventmis-counting the number of persons or objects onboard the vehicle orinside the building.

The controller can examine the sensor output to monitor a health stateof the door. The health state of the door can indicate whether the dooris operating as expected, or whether the door is operating in anunexpected or undesirable manner. For example, the controller canmonitor the speed and/or paths of movement of the leading and/ortrailing edges of the doors to determine whether the speed and/or pathsare within designated acceptable ranges. If a door is moving faster orslower than a designated range of speeds and/or a leading or trailingedge of the door is moving outside of a designated area or volume, thenthe controller can determine that the door has a health state that mayrequire inspection and/or maintenance. As another example, if the dooris moving (e.g., opening or closing) while the door is supposed to beopen or closed, then the controller can determine that the door has ahealth state that may require inspection and/or maintenance. Thecontroller optionally can change how the door is opened responsive todetermining that the door is in this state. For example, the controllercan control the actuator and/or lock to prevent the door from opening,can send a signal to the vehicle or operator of the vehicle to stop thevehicle, or the like.

Optionally, the controller can monitor the operation, state, and/orhealth of components, persons, and/or objects in addition to or asalternates to the door. For example, the field of view of the sensor(s)can capture operation of a lift, ramp, or the like, that is used toassist passengers boarding and/or disembarking from the vehicle. Thecontroller can monitor output from the sensor(s) to determine whetherthe state of the lift, ramp, or other component is acceptable for thevehicle to begin movement. For example, if the sensor output indicatesthat a ramp or lift is deployed, the controller may notify an operatorof the vehicle to refrain from moving the vehicle and/or mayautomatically stop movement of the vehicle. As another example, if thesensor output indicates that a ramp or lift is deployed and a passengeris on or near (e.g., within a threshold distance) of the ramp or lift,the controller may notify an operator of the vehicle to refrain frommoving the vehicle and/or may automatically stop movement of thevehicle. As another example, if the sensor output indicates that awheelchair has wheel(s) on the deployed ramp or lift, the controller maynotify an operator of the vehicle to refrain from moving the vehicleand/or may automatically stop movement of the vehicle.

The sensor may have a field of view that is outside the vehicle toassist the operator of the vehicle in identifying the presence ofpersons or objects outside the vehicle but in a position or location atrisk for being struck by the vehicle. For example, the sensor may have afield of view that encompasses an area or volume of the front right sideof the vehicle. During right turns of the vehicle, the operator (e.g.,driver) may have reduced visibility in this area or volume. Thecontroller may monitor the sensor output to identify the presence ofperson(s) and/or object(s) within this area. If a person and/or objectis identified in this area or volume, the controller may notify anoperator of the vehicle to refrain from moving the vehicle and/or mayautomatically stop movement of the vehicle.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of one example of a method 500 forcontrolling operation of a door based on a monitored area near the door.The method can represent operations performed by the monitoring system.At step 502, an area in front of and/or behind a door is opticallymonitored using one or more sensors. This area can be defined by a fieldof view of optical sensor(s) that includes at least part of an interiorvehicle floor in front of the door. At step 504, a presence or absenceof the one or more persons or objects within the field of view of thesensor(s) is determined. This determination may be completed using thedata that is output by the sensor(s). At step 506, one or more actionsare implemented responsive to detecting the presence or absence of aperson or object. As one example, the door may be authorized (e.g.,allowed) to open or may be opened when a person or object is detected,and/or when a passenger gesture is detected. As another example, thedoor may be prevented from opening. In another example, a speed at whichthe door moves may be changed. The door may be prevented from beingopened based on detecting the presence of the one or more persons orobjects abutting the door.

In one embodiment, the system may have a local data collection systemdeployed that may use machine learning to enable derivation-basedlearning outcomes. The controller may learn from and make decisions on aset of data (including data provided by the various sensors), by makingdata-driven predictions and adapting according to the set of data. Inembodiments, machine learning may involve performing a plurality ofmachine learning tasks by machine learning systems, such as supervisedlearning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning. Supervisedlearning may include presenting a set of example inputs and desiredoutputs to the machine learning systems. Unsupervised learning mayinclude the learning algorithm structuring its input by methods such aspattern detection and/or feature learning. Reinforcement learning mayinclude the machine learning systems performing in a dynamic environmentand then providing feedback about correct and incorrect decisions. Inexamples, machine learning may include a plurality of other tasks basedon an output of the machine learning system. In examples, the tasks maybe machine learning problems such as classification, regression,clustering, density estimation, dimensionality reduction, anomalydetection, and the like. In examples, machine learning may include aplurality of mathematical and statistical techniques. In examples, themany types of machine learning algorithms may include decision treebased learning, association rule learning, deep learning, artificialneural networks, genetic learning algorithms, inductive logicprogramming, support vector machines (SVMs), Bayesian network,reinforcement learning, representation learning, rule-based machinelearning, sparse dictionary learning, similarity and metric learning,learning classifier systems (LCS), logistic regression, random forest,K-Means, gradient boost, K-nearest neighbors (KNN), a priori algorithms,and the like. In embodiments, certain machine learning algorithms may beused (e.g., for solving both constrained and unconstrained optimizationproblems that may be based on natural selection). In an example, thealgorithm may be used to address problems of mixed integer programming,where some components restricted to being integer-valued. Algorithms andmachine learning techniques and systems may be used in computationalintelligence systems, computer vision, Natural Language Processing(NLP), recommender systems, reinforcement learning, building graphicalmodels, and the like. In an example, machine learning may be used forvehicle performance and behavior analytics, and the like.

In one embodiment, the system may include a policy engine that may applyone or more policies. These policies may be based at least in part oncharacteristics of a given item of equipment or environment. Withrespect to control policies, a neural network can receive input of anumber of environmental and task-related parameters. These parametersmay include an identification of a determined trip plan for a vehiclegroup, data from various sensors, and location and/or position data. Theneural network can be trained to generate an output based on theseinputs, with the output representing an action or sequence of actionsthat the vehicle group should take to accomplish the trip plan. Duringoperation of one embodiment, a determination can occur by processing theinputs through the parameters of the neural network to generate a valueat the output node designating that action as the desired action. Thisaction may translate into a signal that causes the vehicle to operate.This may be accomplished via back-propagation, feed forward processes,closed loop feedback, or open loop feedback. Alternatively, rather thanusing backpropagation, the machine learning system of the controller mayuse evolution strategies techniques to tune various parameters of theartificial neural network. The controller may use neural networkarchitectures with functions that may not always be solvable usingbackpropagation, for example functions that are non-convex. In oneembodiment, the neural network has a set of parameters representingweights of its node connections. A number of copies of this network aregenerated and then different adjustments to the parameters are made, andsimulations are done. Once the output from the various models areobtained, they may be evaluated on their performance using a determinedsuccess metric. The best model is selected, and the vehicle controllerexecutes that plan to achieve the desired input data to mirror thepredicted best outcome scenario. Additionally, the success metric may bea combination of the optimized outcomes, which may be weighed relativeto each other.

In one embodiment, a system (e.g., a monitoring system, such as avehicle monitoring system or a door monitoring system) includes anoptical sensor that may generate sensor signals indicative of a field ofview of the optical sensor. The field of view may include at least partof an interior vehicle floor in front of a vehicle door. The system alsomay include controller that receives the sensor signals and that detectsa presence or absence of one or more persons and/or objects within thefield of view of the optical sensor. The controller may change a speedat which the vehicle door moves based on the presence or the absence ofthe persons and/or objects that are detected responsive to detecting thepresence or absence of the persons and/or objects.

The controller may identify a passenger gesture to open the vehicle doorfrom the sensor signals. Responsive to identifying the passengergesture, the controller may authorize the vehicle door to open. Forexample, the controller may release or open a lock, allow a motor tooperate to move or allow the door to move, etc. The controller mayprevent the vehicle door from automatically opening based on detectingthe absence of the persons and/or objects. The controller may preventthe vehicle door from automatically opening based on detecting thepresence of the persons and/or objects abutting the vehicle door.

The controller may identify one or more persistent environmental objectswithin the field of view of the optical sensor. The controller maydiscriminate the one or more persons or objects from the one or morepersistent environmental objects based on the one or more persistentenvironmental objects that are identified. For example, the persistentobjects may be identified by operator input to the controller. Thecontroller can use this input to determine what areas of the imagesoutput by the optical sensor (e.g., a camera) are the persistentobjects. Optionally, the controller can learn the persistent objectsusing machine learning or artificial intelligence. For example, thecontroller can identify what objects appear in the sensor output in thesame locations over extended periods of time. These objects can then beidentified by the controller as the persistent objects.

The vehicle door may have opposite leading and trailing edges, panels,markings, or the like. The controller may identify, from the sensorsignals, movement of one or more of these items of the door duringopening and/or closing of the vehicle door. The controller may changemovement of the door responsive to determining that the vehicle doorwill contact the persons and/or objects if the vehicle door continues tomove. The controller may learn different appearances of one or morepersistent environmental objects or the one or more persons or objectsunder different lighting conditions. For example, the controller may beprogrammed or determine (e.g., via machine learning or artificialintelligence) the appearance of the persistent objects in differentlighting conditions. The controller can be trained with this informationand later use this information to identify and discriminate persons frompersistent objects in the field of view of the optical sensor underdifferent lighting conditions. The controller may determine a currentlighting condition and change the speed at which the vehicle door movesbased on the presence or the absence of the persons and/or objects thatare detected and based on the different appearances associated with thedifferent lighting conditions. The controller may determine a currentlighting condition and control the optical sensor and/or a lamp tochange the current lighting condition. This can change the appearance ofthe one or more persistent environmental objects or the persons and/orobjects.

The field of view of the optical sensor may extend outside of a vehicle.For example, the camera may be oriented so that the field of viewextends through the door, through a window, etc. The optical sensor maybe an interior optical sensor disposed inside a vehicle having thevehicle door. The field of view of the interior optical sensor may be afirst field of view. The system also may include an exterior opticalsensor disposed outside of the vehicle and the vehicle door. Theexterior optical sensor may generate second sensor signals indicative ofa sensed presence or absence of the persons and/or objects within asecond field of view of the exterior optical sensor.

The controller may identify the presence of the persons and/or objectsoutside of the vehicle based on the second sensor signals from theexterior optical sensor. The controller may generate a warning to acontrol system or driver of the vehicle to indicate the presence of thepersons and/or objects outside of the vehicle. The controller mayautomatically change or restrict movement of the vehicle based on thepresence of the one or more persons or objects outside of the vehiclethat is identified. For example, the controller may brake the vehicle,change a steering or heading of the vehicle, or the like, to prevent acollision with a person or object identified from the sensor output.

The controller may automatically control movement of a ramp, bridgeplate, lift, and/or moveable steps outside of the vehicle and thevehicle door responsive to identifying the persons and/or objectsoutside of the vehicle and/or inside the vehicle. The controller maycount a number of passengers entering and/or exiting the vehicle basedon the sensor signals from the optical sensor. The sensor signals may beobtained from the interior optical sensor (if the optical sensor is theinterior optical sensor), and/or the second sensor signals from theexterior optical sensor. The controller may identify an operationalcondition of the vehicle door, another door of the vehicle, a ramp ofthe vehicle, and/or a lift of the vehicle based on the sensor signalsfrom the optical sensor.

In another example, a method is provided that may include generatingsensor signals indicative of a sensed presence or absence of one or morepersons or objects within a field of view of an optical sensor. Thefield of view may include at least part of an interior vehicle floor infront of a vehicle door. The method also may include detecting thepresence or absence of the one or more persons or objects within thefield of view based on the sensor signals, and changing a speed at whichthe vehicle door moves responsive to detecting the presence or theabsence of the one or more persons or objects.

The method also may include identifying, based on the sensor signals, apassenger gesture to open the vehicle door, and, responsive to theidentifying, authorizing the vehicle door to open. The method also mayinclude preventing the vehicle door from automatically opening based ondetecting the absence of the one or more persons or objects.

The method may include preventing the vehicle door from automaticallyopening based on detecting the presence of the one or more persons orobjects abutting the vehicle door. The method may include determining(with a controller) one or more persistent environmental objects withinthe field of view of the optical sensor based on one or more of operatorinput or machine learning, and discriminating the one or more persons orobjects from the one or more persistent environmental objects using thecontroller and based on the determining.

The method also may include monitoring movement of the vehicle doorduring opening or closing of the vehicle door, and changing movement ofthe vehicle door based on the movement of the vehicle door that ismonitored. The method also may include teaching a controller ofdifferent appearances of one or more persistent environmental objects orthe one or more persons or objects under different lighting conditions.

The method may include determining a current lighting condition, and oneor more of identifying the passenger gesture, preventing the vehicledoor from automatically opening, or increasing the speed at which thevehicle door is closed based on the current lighting condition and thedifferent appearances associated with the different lighting conditions.The method may include determining a current lighting condition, andcontrolling one or more of the optical sensor or a lamp to change thecurrent lighting condition and to change the appearance of the one ormore persistent environmental objects or the one or more persons orobjects.

The field of view of the optical sensor may extend outside of a vehiclethrough one or more of a window of the vehicle door or a doorway of thevehicle door. The optical sensor may be an interior optical sensordisposed inside a vehicle having the vehicle door. The field of view ofthe interior optical sensor may be a first field of view, and anexterior optical sensor may be disposed outside of the vehicle and thevehicle door. The exterior optical sensor may detect the one or morepersons or objects within a second field of view of the exterior opticalsensor.

The method also may include identifying a presence of one or morepersons or objects outside of the vehicle based on the sensor signalsfrom the optical sensor, and generating a warning to a control system ordriver of the vehicle to indicate the presence of the one or morepersons or objects outside of the vehicle. The method may includeautomatically changing or restricting movement of the vehicle based onthe presence of the one or more persons or objects outside of thevehicle that is identified.

The method may include automatically preventing deployment of a ramp,bridge plate, or moveable steps outside of the vehicle and the vehicledoor responsive to one or more of identifying the one or more persons orobjects outside of the vehicle or inside the vehicle. The method mayinclude counting a number of passengers one or more of entering orexiting the vehicle based on the sensor signals. The method may includeidentifying an operational condition of the vehicle door based on thesensor signals.

In another example, a monitoring system may include an optical sensorthat may generate sensor signals of a sensed field of view of theoptical sensor. The system also may include a controller that receivesthe sensor signals from the optical sensor and one or more of (a)prevents a vehicle door from automatically opening or speed up closingof the vehicle door based on detecting an absence of one or more personsor objects within the field of view and/or (b) prevents the vehicle doorfrom automatically opening based on detecting the presence of the one ormore persons or objects abutting the vehicle door. The field of view mayinclude at least part of a vehicle interior in front of the vehicledoor. The field of view may include at least part of a vehicle exterioroutside of the vehicle door. The field of view may include at least partof a vehicle exterior outside of the vehicle door and at least part of avehicle interior in front of the vehicle door.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” do not exclude the plural of said elements oroperations, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Furthermore,references to “one embodiment” of the invention do not exclude theexistence of additional embodiments that incorporate the recitedfeatures. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary,embodiments “comprising,” “comprises,” “including,” “includes,”“having,” or “has” an element or a plurality of elements having aparticular property may include additional such elements not having thatproperty. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which”are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms“comprising” and “wherein.” Moreover, in the following claims, the terms“first,” “second,” and “third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and donot impose numerical requirements on their objects. Further, thelimitations of the following claims are not written inmeans-plus-function format and are not intended to be interpreted basedon 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless and until such claim limitations expresslyuse the phrase “means for” followed by a statement of function devoid offurther structure.

The above description is illustrative, and not restrictive. For example,the above-described embodiments (and/or aspects thereof) may be used incombination with each other. In addition, many modifications may be madeto adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of thesubject matter without departing from its scope. While the dimensionsand types of materials described herein define the parameters of thesubject matter, they are exemplary embodiments. Other embodiments willbe apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the abovedescription. The scope of the subject matter should, therefore, bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

This written description uses examples to disclose several embodimentsof the subject matter, including the best mode, and to enable one ofordinary skill in the art to practice the embodiments of subject matter,including making and using any devices or systems and performing anyincorporated methods. The patentable scope of the subject matter isdefined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to oneof ordinary skill in the art. Such other examples are intended to bewithin the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that donot differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they includeequivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from theliteral languages of the claims.

A reference herein to a patent document or any other matter identifiedas prior art, is not to be taken as an admission that the document orother matter was known or that the information it contains was part ofthe common general knowledge as at the priority date of any of theclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: an optical sensor configured to generate sensor signals indicative of a field of view of the optical sensor, the field of view including at least part of an interior vehicle floor in front of a vehicle door; and a controller configured to receive the sensor signals and to detect a presence or absence of one or more persons or objects within the field of view of the optical sensor, the controller configured to change a speed at which the vehicle door moves based on the presence or the absence of the one or more persons or objects that is detected responsive to detecting the presence or the absence of the one or more persons or objects.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to identify from the sensor signals a passenger gesture to open the vehicle door, and responsive to the passenger gesture that is identified, authorize the vehicle door to open.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to prevent the vehicle door from automatically opening based on detecting the absence of the one or more persons or objects.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to prevent the vehicle door from automatically opening based on detecting the presence of the one or more persons or objects abutting the vehicle door.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to identify one or more persistent environmental objects within the field of view of the optical sensor, the controller configured to discriminate the one or more persons or objects from the one or more persistent environmental objects based on the one or more persistent environmental objects that are identified.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle door has opposite leading and trailing edges, and the controller is configured to identify, from the sensor signals, movement of the leading and trailing edges of the vehicle door during one or more of opening or closing the vehicle door, and the controller is configured to change movement of the door responsive to determining that the leading edge or the trailing edge of the vehicle door will contact the one or more persons or objects if the vehicle door continues to move.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to learn different appearances of one or more persistent environmental objects or the one or more persons or objects under different lighting conditions.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to determine a current lighting condition and change the speed at which the vehicle door moves based on the presence or the absence of the one or more persons or objects that is detected and based on the different appearances associated with the different lighting conditions.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to determine a current lighting condition and control one or more of the optical sensor or a lamp to change the current lighting condition and to change the appearance of the one or more persistent environmental objects or the one or more persons or objects.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the field of view of the optical sensor extends outside of a vehicle.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor is an interior optical sensor disposed inside a vehicle having the vehicle door, the field of view of the interior optical sensor is a first field of view, and further comprising: an exterior optical sensor configured to be disposed outside of the vehicle and the vehicle door, the exterior optical sensor configured to generate second sensor signals indicative of a sensed presence or absence of the one or more persons or objects within a second field of view of the exterior optical sensor.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to identify the presence of one or more persons or objects outside of the vehicle based on the second sensor signals from the exterior optical sensor, the controller configured to generate a warning to a control system or driver of the vehicle to indicate the presence of the one or more persons or objects outside of the vehicle.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to automatically change or restrict movement of the vehicle based on the presence of the one or more persons or objects outside of the vehicle that is identified.
 14. A method, comprising: generating sensor signals indicative of a sensed presence or absence of one or more persons or objects within a field of view of an optical sensor, the field of view including at least part of an interior vehicle floor in front of a vehicle door; based on the sensor signals, detecting the presence or absence of the one or more persons or objects within the field of view; and changing a speed at which the vehicle door moves responsive to detecting the presence or the absence of the one or more persons or objects.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising identifying, based on the sensor signals, a passenger gesture to open the vehicle door, and, responsive to the identifying, authorizing the vehicle door to open.
 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising preventing the vehicle door from automatically opening based on detecting the absence of the one or more persons or objects.
 17. A system, comprising: an optical sensor configured to generate sensor signals of a sensed field of view of the optical sensor; and a controller configured to receive the sensor signals from the optical sensor and to one or more of (a) prevent a vehicle door from automatically opening or speed up closing of the vehicle door based on detecting an absence of one or more persons or objects within the field of view or (b) prevent the vehicle door from automatically opening based on detecting a presence of the one or more persons or objects abutting the vehicle door.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the field of view includes at least part of a vehicle interior in front of the vehicle door.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein the field of view includes at least part of a vehicle exterior outside of the vehicle door.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the field of view includes at least part of a vehicle exterior outside of the vehicle door and at least part of a vehicle interior in front of the vehicle door. 